What ammo for 32 ACP

[ThomasT]

Another member here has been testing budget ammo from Fiocchi and Magtech, but he hasn't touched any of this newer PPU ammo, so I'm stuck doing it.

I bet the other member you are referring to is "5pins". He does lots of test and I like his results. Maybe he will test this ammo if you drop him a note. I would like to find a 32acp that expands from my Walther/Manhurin PP. Since Silver Tip from Winchester is almost never available it would be nice to have something thats available in a ready supply and isn't a light weight bullet.

 

[Snowdog]

There is a very cheap .32 JHP load I found that PPU makes that I'm intending to test expansion in water jugs when the weather warms up. It's a bit of an oddball given it's a 71 grain JHP (most .32 ACP that is a hollow point are 60 grains) and the cavity is huge, a small pistol primer almost fits inside it.

Interesting that they offer this in .32acp. I recently received a couple boxes of 9x18 PPU Defense Line that also possess gaping hollow point cavities.

 

[TTv2]

I bet the other member you are referring to is "5pins". He does lots of test and I like his results. Maybe he will test this ammo if you drop him a note. I would like to find a 32acp that expands from my Walther/Manhurin PP. Since Silver Tip from Winchester is almost never available it would be nice to have something thats available in a ready supply and isn't a light weight bullet.

Yes, it's 5pins. I asked him to look into testing some of the PPU defense line ammo, 9, 10, and .45 specifically, months ago and he said something to the effect of being backlogged.

As for a .32 hollow point that's not 60 grains, this PPU is the only one I know of that is a hollow point, yet is the same weight as FMJ is. The velocity I'm sure will be lower than 60 grain bullets, but there are .45 Colt bullets that expand at 800 fps, so it's not impossible to make a bullet that expands at lower velocities. You just have to design the bullet to work at such velocities.

 

[TTv2]

Interesting that they offer this in .32acp. I recently received a couple boxes of 9x18 PPU Defense Line that also possess gaping hollow point cavities.

I don't think it's that interesting, like I said PPU is a European company, .32 ACP is very popular there, and a modern .32 ACP hollow point that works would certainly be well received by gun owners there and here.

 

[chicharrones]

Late to the party, but I'm another fan of FMJ only in small .32 ACP pocket guns. S&B is my favorite in guns that can smack the primer hard enough to fire the cartridge. Fiocchi isn't bad in the gun I have with less hammer power.

 

[lsudave]

Interesting that they offer this in .32acp. I recently received a couple boxes of 9x18 PPU Defense Line that also possess gaping hollow point cavities.

I'm curious about how those perform in both calibers. Got a Beretta 81 and a CZ 82, both reasonably small and nice guns with 12 rd mags. I know the CZ will feed both Silver Bear and Hornady JHP. Both are still big enough to be quite accurate and comfortable to shoot.

 

[TTv2]

So since I went to the range today and shot the Defense Line .32 ACP ammo made by PPU, I wanted to let everyone know that the ammo would not feed in my Zastava. That's a bummer, but the good news is that the ammo shot very accurately from my .327 SP101 and had very low recoil.

So, for those looking for a cheap, low recoil hollow point for .32 and .327 Mag revolvers, this may be a good choice at 32 cents/round if your revolver doesn't have issues of the .32 ACP banging back against the firing pin and getting stuck and locking up the cylinder. That happened on the last round I shot, but my SP101 doesn't work too well with .32 ACP, my .32 Magnum revolvers have no issue.

I will have to do a water jug test to see if the bullet expands, I have no reason to believe it won't given the cavity on these bullets is so freakin' huge, but the proof is in the pudding as they say.

 

[GooseGestapo]

Grafs sells both PPU bullets and ammo.
The samples I’ve seen look a bit different than those TTV2 showed.
If I can get the new ones I definitely will.

The previous style didn’t show significant expansion by one YouTube video.

 

[test drive]

Yes. FMJ round nose.

 

[TTv2]

So since I went to the range today and shot the Defense Line .32 ACP ammo made by PPU, I wanted to let everyone know that the ammo would not feed in my Zastava. That's a bummer, but the good news is that the ammo shot very accurately from my .327 SP101 and had very low recoil.

So, for those looking for a cheap, low recoil hollow point for .32 and .327 Mag revolvers, this may be a good choice at 32 cents/round if your revolver doesn't have issues of the .32 ACP banging back against the firing pin and getting stuck and locking up the cylinder. That happened on the last round I shot, but my SP101 doesn't work too well with .32 ACP, my .32 Magnum revolvers have no issue.

I will have to do a water jug test to see if the bullet expands, I have no reason to believe it won't given the cavity on these bullets is so freakin' huge, but the proof is in the pudding as they say.

I wanted to update this and say that I tried the PPU Defense Line .32 in my Beretta 81 yesterday and it functioned flawlessly. Only put 10 rds downrange, but that was a lot better than what it did in the Zastava, which was 100% failure to feed.

So now I have to shoot this bullet water or a watermelon and see if it expands.

 

[film495]

I'd plan on putting 200 rounds of whatever you're going to carry through it to make sure there are no feed or eject issues with that ammo. Generally speaking, round nose FMJ tends to run cleaner in some semi-auto actions than others. For me, I just load my CZ-70 with Fiocci, as it seems to run the best. I also use Geco at the range as I got some for pretty cheap, but only load the 8 round magazines 5 deep as the noses seem to dip a hair in the mags. FMJ 32 ACP rounds are similar in nrg to a .22 LR round from a rifle, so - nothing to sneeze at, but the speed is questionable if a bullet will expand, so - I just carry ammo that I know cycles 100% and figure that is more important than what ammo that is.

US vs. Euro 32 ACP has some subtle differences, so - I'd lean toward a US produced .32 ACP in a US firearm, and a Euro produced ammo in a Euro produced firearm, just as a generality - but, go with what works. You may also want to test for accuracy, as the bullet diameters between ammo in 32 ACP can also have slight variations between brands. US being slightly larger and Euro being a little smaller. Depending on the chamber and barrel, this can produce differences in how it hits a target in terms of accuracy and grouping.

 

[TTv2]

Before I go off and blow $70 on ammo that I'd use for defense, I'd rather learn if it expands first. If it does, then yeah, I'll buy a few more boxes. If it doesn't, then I won't bother.

 

[Dan-O]

Maybe I missed it, but there are ways to modify the mag follower with a hole and a piece of wire to prevent rim lock.

Kel Tec used to sell a kit....don’t know if they do anymore.

You can make em yourself too which is what I’ve done with instructions found here. If you’re using fmj it should be a moot point unless it’s loaded short.
http://www.1bad69.com/keltec/flyerwire.htm

 

[Mark 40]

Kel Tec used to sell a kit....don’t know if they do anymore.

No more.

But the helpful link you left will do the trick.

 

[Stevie-Ray]

Mine is my EDC BUG, and I keep it loaded with Geco FMJ.

 

[golden]

Vincyr,

Before you pick your ammo, consider your choice of gun.

LUCKYGUNNER ammo tests shows the gel performance of many rounds. They tested 8 different .32ACP and the most interesting thing was that almost all the rounds performed poorly in the KEL TEC-32.
In the longer barreled BERETTA, 6 of the 8 loads showed some expansion. I shot the COR BON load and it is very hot. I noticed the increased recoil and noise immediately, but that round expanded to .51 inches and the BUFFULO BORE went to .59.
With ammo from mainline companies, expansion was not as impressive.
The LUCKYGUNNER tests found the FEDERAL Hydra Shok, FIOCCHI XTP, HORNADY Critical Defense and SPEER Gold Dot all offer useful performance from the 3.8 inch barrel of the BERETTA 81. I have also found these rounds to be 100% reliable in my BERETTA 82.

From the KEL TEC, you will be limited to the boutique makers or the FEDERAL Hydra Shok. If it were me, I would get the larger gun or get a larger caliber gun. The .380ACP ammo tests were done using a GLOCK 42. This is a really great gun for the size, weight and reliability. Some of the .380ACP loads were also very impressive in the gel test.

One other thing, do not count on any accuracy from a Single Seven. When I shot some of the FIOCCHI out of my H&R 732 which is chambered for the .32 S&W Long, the groups doubled in size.

Your gun may do better, but I have read of some posts on this site that reported the same thing.

Jim

 

[Monac]

I would stick to FMJ in 32 to avoid issues with rim lock. It should penetrate more reliably too.

I didn't know using FMJ bullets helped avoid rim lock in 32 automatics, IdaD. Thanks! Can you tell me how does it do that?

 

[film495]

I didn't know using FMJ bullets helped avoid rim lock in 32 automatics, IdaD. Thanks! Can you tell me how does it do that?

the full length of the loaded cartridge tends to be longer in FMJ with a rounded nose and have less free space in the mag in front of the bullet ends. therefore, less room/space for the cartridges to jump forward and have one of the rims slip behind the one below it and rim lock. I've never seen it happen, but I also shoot only FMJ in 32 ACP, but I think it is the recoil pulse than can cause the cartridges to jump around in the mag and possibly rim lock.

if you had sample mags and sample ammo, you could probably observe if it is even possible for a particular ammo in a particular mag to even do this. pretty sure some ammo simply doesn't have enough to ever move forward enough to rim lock - physically impossible.

 

[chicharrones]

Don't forget that truncated nose FMJ like Winchester (White Box) is just as short in OAL as JHP in .32 ACP. I had rimlock problems with that Winchester ammo in my Guardian and never went back to Winchester in .32 ACP because of it.

From what I remember, that short FMJ Winchester ammo was made as a practice ammo for the Seecamp pistol that has a magazine designed only for short OAL JHP .32 ACP ammo.

 

[Monac]

the full length of the loaded cartridge tends to be longer in FMJ with a rounded nose and have less free space in the mag in front of the bullet ends. therefore, less room/space for the cartridges to jump forward and have one of the rims slip behind the one below it and rim lock. I've never seen it happen, but I also shoot only FMJ in 32 ACP, but I think it is the recoil pulse than can cause the cartridges to jump around in the mag and possibly rim lock.

if you had sample mags and sample ammo, you could probably observe if it is even possible for a particular ammo in a particular mag to even do this. pretty sure some ammo simply doesn't have enough to ever move forward enough to rim lock - physically impossible.

Thanks very much for the clear and sensible explanation, film495!

 

[TTv2]

One other thing, do not count on any accuracy from a Single Seven. When I shot some of the FIOCCHI out of my H&R 732 which is chambered for the .32 S&W Long, the groups doubled in size.

Your gun may do better, but I have read of some posts on this site that reported the same thing.

Jim

Don't count on any .32 ACP in any Ruger revolver, except maybe .32 H&R Mag. I say that because I tend to have good results with .32 ACP in .32 Mag revolvers, but .327? Nope, forget it.

I am interested to hear about .32 ACP in the 732 H&R revolver. I've seen a few others say they've shot .32 ACP in those even tho the pressure is higher they say the 732's are able to handle it. I assume that the longer jump bleeds some of the pressure and reduces it to safer levels before it hits the forcing cone, but IDK. Did you try any other .32 ACP ammo in it to see if results improved?

 

[Ernie Bass]

Carry ammo Underwood Plus p



range ammo, just about anything

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

Additional thought- The Buffalo Bore hard cast LFN might have the most penetration, but suffers from $$$ issues (compared to the Euro FMJ), and has the "short" OAL that may promote rimlock.

Buffalo Bore is good ammo, but it's oal is too short and will give you rim lock. Put one in the pipe and one on top of the mag and you will be fine. FYI I called them to see if they would seat the bullet out further to avoid rl and the owner told me that he had heard of rl, but since he had never had one he thought it was a myth. I have had no less than 3 rl with various short oal rounds.

 

[golden]

TTV2,

If I remember right, I tried the FIOCCHI XTP jhp in my H&R 732. The revolver has proven accurate with other ammo, some better than others, but groups doubled with the .32ACP, so I did not try anything else. I decided that if pressed to use this gun for defense, I would just use full wadcutters which have proven accurate and easy to shoot in this gun.

Jim

 

[lsudave]

Don't forget that truncated nose FMJ like Winchester (White Box) is just as short in OAL as JHP in .32 ACP. I had rimlock problems with that Winchester ammo in my Guardian and never went back to Winchester in .32 ACP because of it.

From what I remember, that short FMJ Winchester ammo was made as a practice ammo for the Seecamp pistol that has a magazine designed only for short OAL JHP .32 ACP ammo.

I got into .32 acp when looking at neat older pistols, like the CZ 27, Savage 1914, Mauser 1914 etc. Those guns HATE the WWB, it won't feed. Truncated rd causes them to jam. So I never got that crap again, because if it's range fun, I want to use it in all my guns.
I have a FEG AP7 (looks like a Walther PP), and a Beretta 81. I haven't test them with anything but roundnose FMJ but they run fine with it.